Tyre problems the reason why Williams overlooked Kubica

Thursday, 11 january 2018, 06:37
, by Matthew Scott

Williams have reportedly decided to opt for Sergey Sirotkin over Robert Kubica for their final seat for the 2018 Formula One season due to the Pole's inability to adapt to the new Pirelli tyres which were introduced at testing last year, according to Andrew Benson of the BBC.

This week, Sirotkin was confirmed as the partner for Lance Stroll at Williams for the upcoming campaign, with many F1 commentators criticising the decision as they believe it was due to the financial backing the Russian receives rather than his driving ability.

However, F1 reporter Benson insists it was due to issues Kubica had adapting to new Pirelli tyres.

"The main issue for Robert was primarily the speed on “qualifying” laps, during which the car has a small amount of fuel in the tank," Benson told Sportowefakty.wp.pl.

"Kubica, on all his runs using the tyres could not significantly improve performance.

"I also received information that the 33-year-old himself revealed to his manager his problems with adapting to the new tyres provided by Pirelli.

"There is nothing strange about this. Many regular F1 drivers complain about the revolutionary tires of the Italian company.

"For Kubica, however, the adaptation process can be a much more difficult challenge. Unlike the rest of the drivers, the Pole has not driven any of the last six seasons since Pirelli became F1’s partner.

"In the end, Williams management in Grove decided that Kubica couldn’t get the job done and that in their current situation there is no room for risk. Hence the choice of Sirotkin."

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Comments (24)

Mark Andrew

Now if I were a cynical man I might think all this 'will they won't they' publicity about Kubica might be a ruse to keep Williams in the press for the close season in order to attract sponsors...but that would be uber cynical. At the very least they might have enjoyed the side effect of the Kubica story giving them publicity. Any or all of which would help oil the machine of funding which is essential to compete with the big boys.

Marcin Majchrzyk

I find it quite confusing. Did Williams invite Robert to Abu Dhabi to test his ability to drive a modern F1 car and test new Pirelli on the long runs? or were they secretly testing his ability to push the car and the tyres to the limit straight away? I remember that Kubica himself told that he was there not to do quick laptimes but to run the teams whole test program. Williams, Kubica or journalists - someone is/was lying...

Aaron Dennis

If they really wanted the best available driver, Wehrlein was the obvious choice. Money was the clear deciding factor here and I hope it's enough to offset the loss in prize money as the team finishes no better than 8th this season.

Max VERSTAPPEN

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